This is a fine addition to Jon Guerra's growing discography, and I look forward to hearing what new songs his continued contemplations will produce.
Christian recording artist Jon Guerra recently released his newest LP, Jesus. Like all his works, it calls Christians to meditate on spiritual realities, whether harsh or gentle. His music is often slow and quiet, but his lyrics burn with a fierce intensity: a fierce desire to see the breaking in of Christ’s kingdom on earth. This has been a priority of Guerra's from the beginning.
I first met Jon back in 2007. While on a sightseeing trip to New York City, I visited a childhood friend named Valerie, who was dating a guy she had met when they were both students at Moody Bible Institute. This young man was very into music, very into Jesus, and very into my friend. It was, of course, Jon Guerra.
A small group of us spent an evening in the city, eating massive desserts at Serendipity, riding the Roosevelt Island tram, and listening to Jon talk about some local minister whose church we would visit the following morning. He told us this pastor had written some great stuff and would probably gain more readers soon. The pastor was Tim Keller, and the church was Redeemer Presbyterian. Even then, Jon was a thoughtful observer of the world around him.
Jon's romantic interest in my friend did not diminish, and soon I was attending their wedding. He had written the music for the ceremony, and I remember observing that it was legitimately good.
I followed his career from afar: the early years of experimentation in Chicago, the time Amy Grant and Vince Gill discovered him, and the inevitable difficulties trying to build credibility in the music industry. He released three solo LPs—Little Songs, Keeper of Days, and Ordinary Ways—along with some EPs and demos. He and Valerie also contributed music to the film A Hidden Life.
With each step Jon took along this journey, he matured as an artist. Again, his music was not just good, as in, "It's good for something a person I know has written," but as in, "It's some of the best stuff I'm hearing from anyone anywhere." His song "Lord Remind Me" is one of the best Christmas songs I've ever heard, including all those classics by Charles Wesley and Big Crosby.
Each of the twelve tracks considers an episode in the life of Christ—perhaps a miracle or maybe even a single phrase—and turns it over musically, contemplating its meaning.
Now comes his newest LP, Jesus. Guerra has stated it began as an effort to "be reacquainted with Jesus." [1] He has often referred to his songwriting as "devotional," and Jesus is no exception. Each of the twelve tracks considers an episode in the life of Christ—perhaps a miracle or maybe even a single phrase—and turns it over musically, contemplating its meaning. In so doing, it breathes new life into old stories, and we see Jesus in all his facets: comforter, judge, savior, lover, avenger.
The first track, "In the Beginning Was Love," is inspired by the opening passage of the Gospel of John. Guerra encourages us to think of this divine Word in terms of the eternal communion of the Trinity, existing in a perfect state of love that overflows to creation.
In the beginning was love
And the love was with God
And the love was God
He was with God in the beginning
And the world was made through him
And so was I
These lyrics move from the unimaginably infinite to the starkly personal: the intimate relationship between Creator and creature. This same God who was made flesh is the God who created the universe and created each of us individually. That is one of the many paradoxes of Jesus: he is Almighty and perfectly humble, conversing with kings and children. As Guerra instructs us in "Who is the Greatest?":
So don't despise any small ones
I tell you their prayers always reach God
Just like oak trees in a field
They'll stand tall when all is healed
This is the nature of Jesus' kingdom, which turns the world on its head. The way to glory is in humility. The way to knowledge is by becoming childlike. To have joy, one must despair. To live, one must die.
The first single from the album, "I See the Birds," is a contemplation upon God's provision for all his creatures and a call to trust in him alone. It reflects the influence of Southern spirituals such as, "His Eye is on the Sparrow." But no sooner has Guerra emphasized the tender nature of God's care then he focuses on Christ's warnings of coming judgment. In "Reckoner (An Axe Laid at the Roots)," Guerra observes of our present cultural moment,
These are the days of the devil in the wilderness
These are the tastes that have turned into bitterness
It's not that we doubt that a stone can turn into bread
It's just we doubt that we're hungry at all
The serial temptations of the age are getting harder
The country's getting meaner, computers getting smarter
The pains we try to numb are only gеtting sharper
We're going on likе nothing's the matter at all
I would argue that most people living in America (those who comprise the majority of Guerra's audience) believe that something is definitely the matter, but as one might expect, misdiagnoses continue to be the problem. Guerra argues that we hunger for material things, earthly power, and the like, while our true need is for spiritual sustenance that can only be found in Jesus. He concludes the track by singing,
Some trust in chariots, in power or politicians
Some trust in the market of collective superstitions
But we trust in the name of the Lord of crucifixion
And the hope of resurrection in Jesus Christ
The need to break free from the things of this world continues on the track "Where Your Treasure Is," and Guerra admits his own inability to follow Christ's command to give all to the poor and follow him.
But, Lord, if I'm honest
I'm scared to death
That if I give my fish and loaves
There won't be anything left
For me and my parents
For my wife and my kids
I was born the only child
Of child immigrants
In making this personal admission, Guerra speaks to an instinct in all of us: a hesitancy to bet everything on Christ and trust he is in control. We may feel the fragility of our situation, but as sinners, we lack confidence in the strength of God's Word.
Guerra closes out the album with the track "Jesus," in which he pours out descriptors and words of praise to the exceedingly strange and wonderful person on whose teachings he has meditated.
The dawnbird song of life
The spring of earth and heaven
The water and the wine
The everlasting leaven
My life, my truth, my way
The stone on which I stumble
The vineyard owner's wage
The shepherd of the humble
Jesus is an album fit for our time, but equally for every time. With all the chaos in the world, the endless social and political commentary, the million and one things to do, the simple message of Jesus is often drowned out, even among his followers. (A simple message, but not an easy one!)
Listening to the songs, I was reminded why no fictional portrayal of Jesus in film or television has ever truly satisfied me. The teachings of Jesus are too counterintuitive, his personality too unsullied, his methods too extreme. To encounter him in the Gospels is to find something that transcends any words but his own. Every time I think I have grasped who this Jesus person was, I see something new: something that defies categorization. Yet, in another respect, he can be understood by the smallest child. No one grasps Jesus, and yet he grasps us all.
This is a fine addition to Jon Guerra's growing discography, and I look forward to hearing what new songs his continued contemplations will produce.
[1] https://jonguerra.bandcamp.com/album/jesus
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